Thursday, September 29, 2016

UNIVERSALITY OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration, States have repeatedly
emphasized the universality and indivisibility of human rights. At the World
Conference in Vienna they specifically recognized that women’s human
rights are part of universal human rights and they have subsequently
reaffirmed this, including at the Fourth World Conference on Women. As
mentioned above, the Vienna Programme of Action also explicitly stressed
the importance of eradicating “any conflicts which may arise between the
rights of women and the harmful effects of certain traditional or customary
practices, cultural prejudices and religious extremism.”

Despite these commitments by States, the question of universality has
often been raised when States have tried to justify violations of women’s
rights in the name of culture. The Special Rapporteur on violence against
women in her report on cultural practices within the family that are violent
towards women (E/CN.4/2002/83) highlights female genital mutilation,
so-called honour killings of women, son preference and witch hunting

as examples of customs that have been defended under the pretext of
being part of a given culture. Stereotypes and cultural norms which dictate
prescriptive roles for women in society also have a negative impact on
women’s enjoyment of their human rights. For instance, girls’ lack of
access to education has sometimes been justified on the presumption that,
as mothers and wives, they will not enter the workforce and thus do not
require education.

The universality of human rights and their validity in a given local context
have often been contested through relativist discourses that brand them
as foreign ideas incompatible with local culture.13 However, the Special
Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights has warned against discourses that
disregard the fact that culture is not static and changes over time. She also
points to women’s lack of influence in decision-making processes which
define the culture of any given community (A/67/287).

As mentioned earlier, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women requires States to “take appropriate
measures to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men
and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and
customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the
inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles
for men and women”. The Committee, in its general recommendation No.
19 (1992), comments on articles 2 (f), 5 and 10 (c) that attitudes and
practices according to which women are subordinate to men uphold the
subjugation of women in society, and thus undermine women’s human
rights, gender equality and non-discrimination, mentioning the practices of
family violence and abuse, forced marriage, dowry deaths, acid attacks
and female circumcision. It also comments on article 12 on the right to
health, stating that certain traditional practices perpetuated by culture
and tradition are harmful to the health of women and children. These
practices include dietary restrictions for pregnant women, preference for
male children and female circumcision or genital mutilation

The Special Rapporteur on violence against women, in her report on
intersections between culture and violence against women, argues that it is
possible to negotiate human rights with culture, challenging discriminatory
and oppressive aspects of culture while retaining its positive aspects. She
concludes that “compromising women’s rights is not an option. Therefore,
the challenge that confronts us today is to respect and prize our diverse
cultures while developing common strategies to resist oppressive practices
in the name of culture, and to promote and uphold universal human
rights while rejecting encroachments grounded in ethnocentric thinking”
(A/HRC/4/34, para. 71).

The Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights has also discussed the
interaction of the principle of universality of human rights, recognition and
implementation of cultural rights and the need to respect cultural diversity
(A/HRC/14/36). The Special Rapporteur views the universal promotion
and protection of human rights, including cultural rights, and respect for
cultural diversity as mutually supportive. She recalls the Vienna Declaration
and Programme of Action, the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity
and Human Rights Council resolution 10/23 to affirm that respect for
cultural rights or cultural diversity may not undermine the universality of
human rights.